The license terms here apply to all versions of VFX Forth 5.1 and beyond. Separate sections of this chapter cover both the Community (non-commercial use) and Enterprise (commercial use) licenses.
Unless otherwise stated, all files supplied are copyright MicroProcessor Engineering Limited.
Commercial use means that money changes hands, either by the sale of a product or by payment for a job or employment. If commercial use applies to you, your organisation or employer, you need an Enterprise licence.
If you sell an application written with VFX Forth, that is commercial use.
If you sell a service that uses or was developed with VFX Forth, that is commercial use.
If you are paid to write software with VFX Forth, that is commercial use.
If you sell hardware or software but give away software written with VFX Forth to enhance it, that is still commercial use.
If you think that you are a special case, please contact us and we will consider your case.
If you teach a class using VFX Forth in a class, that is a special case, and a Community non-commercial licence is all that is required, both for the teachers and the students, but for the duration of the class only.
The terms in this section apply to compilers supplied with the Community licence.
All applications written with the Community licence must acknowlege this at sign on and in the documentation.
Commercial use with the Community licence is not permitted.
You may not use VFX Forth or MPE cross compilers to produce products that compete with one or more MPE Forth products.
Unless otherwise stated, all files are copyright MicroProcessor Engineering Limited.
There are several ways in which VFX Forth applications can be distributed. These are:
Providing that the user can have no access to the underlying Forth and its text interpreter, turnkey applications written in VFX Forth may be distributed without licence. An acknowledgement of the VFX Forth Community licence is required at start up of the application.
If the developing organisation wishes to provide what the user sees as a sealed turnkey application, but in which an open Forth can be exposed for engineering and maintenance access by the developer organisation no licence will be charged for. However a license agreement must be signed with MPE in order to protect MPE's copyright. An acknowledgement of the VFX Forth Community licence is required at start up of the application.
If the company or person responsible for maintenance is not the developer then the maintenance company or person must have a licence.
Our objective here is to protect our copyright and to ensure that no undocumented Forth systems are shipped.
In order to distribute a system with an open Forth interpreter for the end user, a licence agreement must be signed with MPE.
Our objective here is to protect our copyright and to ensure that no undocumented Forth systems are shipped.
Unless special license terms say otherwise, this section applies.
Shipped applications may be based on the files VfxForth_x86_Win.exe, VfxForthB_x86_Win.exe and any number of overlays.
Object code generated from the source files can of course be included in your applications. MPE source files and all other files including editors, support programs and shared libraries are part of the development environment, which may not be distributed without prior permission in writing from MicroProcessor Engineering. However, the INI parser libraries, mpeparser.dll or libmpeparser.* may be distributed with your applications - these files are distributed under an MIT license.
The source directories provided with VFX Forth may not be distributed, and remain the intellectual property of MicroProcessor Engineering Ltd. Some source directories, e.g. the INI parser, contain additional licenses which apply to those directories only.
We try to make VFX Forth as reliable and bug free as we possibly can. We support our products. If you find a bug in VFX Forth or its associated programs we will do our best to fix it. Please send us sample code and a listing of the problem. We will then let you know of an update when we have fixed the problem. Do however, check with us first in case the problem has already been fixed. Technical support is only provided for the current shipping version of VFX Forth.
Make as many copies as you need for backup and security.
The terms in this section apply to compilers supplied with commercial use permitted.
If you have a subscription, commercial use is only permitted while the subscription is valid, i.e. paid for.
You may not use VFX Forth or MPE cross compilers to produce products that compete with one or more MPE Forth products.
Unless otherwise stated, all files are copyright MicroProcessor Engineering Limited.
There are several ways in which VFX Forth applications can be distributed. These are:
Providing that the user can have no access to the underlying Forth and its text interpreter, turnkey applications written in VFX Forth may be distributed without royalty. An acknowledgement will be gratefully appreciated.
If the developing organisation wishes to provide what the user sees as a sealed turnkey application, but in which an open Forth can be exposed for engineering and maintenance access by the developer organisation no royalty will be charged. However a license agreement must be signed with MPE in order to protect MPE's copyright. If the company responsible for maintenance is not the developer then the maintenance company must have a license.
In order to distribute a system with an open Forth interpreter for the end user, a license agreement and royalty terms must be agreed with MPE. MPE is able to help you supply selected portions of the development environment, or to provide end user documentation. The cost of such licenses will depend on the facilities required.
Unless special license terms say otherwise, this section applies.
Shipped applications may be based on the files VfxForth*.exe and any number of overlays.
MPE source files and all other files including editors, support programs and shared libraries are part of the development environment, which may not be distributed without prior permission in writing from MicroProcessor Engineering. However, the INI parser libraries, mpeparser.dll or libmpeparser.* may be distributed with your applications - these files are distrubuted under an MIT license.
The source directories provided with VFX Forth may not be distributed, and remain the intellectual property of MicroProcessor Engineering Ltd. Some source directories, e.g. the INI parser, contain additional licenses which apply to those directories only.
We try to make VFX Forth as reliable and bug free as we possibly can. We support our products. If you find a bug in VFX Forth or its associated programs we will do our best to fix it. Please send us sample code and a listing of the problem, and let us know the serial number of the prodct. We will then send you an update when we have fixed the problem. Do however, contact us or your supplier first in case the problem has already been fixed. Please note that the level of Technical Support that we can offer will depend on the Support Policy purchased with VFX Forth. Technical support is only provided for the current shipping version of VFX Forth.
Make as many copies as you need for backup and security. The distribution is not copy protected. VFX Forth is copyrighted material and only one copy of it should be in use at any one time. Contact MPE or your vendor for details of multiple copy terms and site licensing.
As we sell copies of VFX Forth through dealers and purchasing departments we cannot keep track of all our users. If you have not already been in contact with us, please send your details to
mailto:techsupport@mpeforth.com